Any Experience with Kolbe Forgent (Glastra) Windows?

I asked a Kolbe dealer for a quote and got one for their Forgent line, all Glastra (inside and out). Looks to be a new product designed to compete with Marvin Integrity all Ultrex maybe?

I scoured the web for any reviews or other details but have come up totally empty, which seems odd. Can any pros or homeowners speak to quality or anything else?

I'm basically down to this and Integrity (maybe Anderson E Series too). Given the lack of a track record for Kolbe I'm inclined to throw out the quote unless I get some good info otherwise. Any opinions?

Good timing on this thread. I'm also looking at Kolbe Forgent windows. Unfortunately the Ultras are not in my budget, but the Forgent windows are. It seems like a reasonably priced option for wood clad windows from a highly regarded company. On the flip side, there is not much information/reviews on the windows at all, and I'm not wild about being a guinea pig for a new window. I'm also considering Marvin Integrity (a little more expensive) and Sunrise Vanguard Vinyl (a little less expensive).

Another person here interested in Kolbe Forgent, Milguard Ultra and Marvin Integrity. Actually Alpen is also on the list, very high on the list, even as most expensive but best energy efficiency levels even in their lowest, 525 line. The local vendor mentioned the newly released Kolbe, sweet pricing but it is a new product and we will be in this house for years and don’t want trouble. It is a hard balance and there are no reviews yet, and it is an expensive and important part of the house. We want fiberglass and the house is at 7000 feet which adds some extra considerations.

You might like to view a video showing stress testing of: an all-vinyl frame corner, an all-fiberglass frame corner, a competitor's composite frame corner, and a Glastra frame corner. The strength of Glastra far exceeds that of the others. Review the video here: https://www.kolbewindows.com/product-lines#ForgentSeries

We are building a (net-zero, we hope) house and I insisted that we were going with the new Anderson 100s because we didn't have the budget for super-expensive windows, and the PR material on "fibrex" sounded great. Then I drove two hours to a major Anderson dealer who had a cross-section; I was appalled -- they apparently used the greater strength of the fibrex to cut air barriers to a minimum. And the corners had gaps! Went with Fogent from Kolbe; wish I had a photo of a cross section to include. No real experience, but very impressed with construction and our builder really liked them. We could afford wood interiors with Kolbe.

I have not seen a fiberglass composite welded before. I would think the polymer has a high enough plastic content in order to do so. The strength test and impact test are great but a window is never going to see those forces imposed upon it. Are there any air infiltration numbers on these windows?

For anyone looking for this info in the future, we got quotes from both Marvin and Kolbe. Kolbe came in lower for white, but they had a much higher premium for dark windows. Marvin was a 6% increase for dark, whereas Kolbe was 24% higher. As much as we like the look of the Forgent windows, we just can’t justify the higher price for a largely unknown product and are leaning toward Marvin.

I would check another lumber yard just to be sure (one that doesn't sell Marvin windows). We received a hefty discount on the Kolbe's from "retail" because we are in the Midwest and things are just less expensive here; we didn't get nearly the same discount on doors. When I asked why, it was because the doors came from a local distributor and weren't marked up much, but the Kolbe retail prices were valid for the whole U.S. and probably on the coasts, e.g. there would be little or no discount. The point is that with national brands the end supplier seems to have a lot of discretion on actual price charged. And maybe he wants to push you toward the Marvin. I don't have our original quote, but our total up-charge for bronze exterior and wood interior was 22%. Also, and this may be PR, the claim is that Glastra (invented in Germany) can be welded, but fiberglass (e.g. Marvin) has to be glued/somehow fastened at the corners so the possibility of leakage of low-E gas is larger.

"Also, and this may be PR, the claim is that Glastra (invented in Germany) can be welded, but fiberglass (e.g. Marvin) has to be glued/somehow fastened at the corners so the possibility of leakage of low-E gas is larger."

Pure PR garbage. They weld the fiberglass corners on the Integrity and if the salesman told you the corner constructon of the sash has an effect on the seal of the insulated glass, that is comletely inacurate. And the gas is argon, the low e is a coating applied to the glass. Not trying to discourage the Glastra windows at all just pointing out the inaccurancies about the Integrity units.

Well, I know that the gas is Argon in low-E windows, unless it is Krypton. And it makes sense about the corners having little effect on the sealing of the glass itself, which I assume is a sort of gasket.

We just had Kolbe double hung forgent windows installed in our new addition. The plans called for Marvin but our builder seemed to like these.1. The actual glass is smaller than the Marvin by a substantial amount. This is because the center rail is much thicker than other double hung windowsWe were disappointed but we moved on.2. Completely opening the windows is another issue. There are these plastic stops ( approximately 41/2 inches long) on both the top and bottom of the window. When the window is completely opened the rails are not able match up. And the actual window opening is 4 1/2 inches smaller. Kolbe recommended taking the stops off. The windows still wouldn’t open. They then suggested fiddling with the mechanism. This was very time consuming, the builder didn’t want to do it. This helped a bit but the windows still do not match up when opened. Ugh3. The screens- this should be simple but ...We purchased 8 windows and it took the the worker literally 2 hours to install the screens! Now that they are in it should be an easy task for me to reinstall them. But not so. They are too tight and a needle nose plier is needed as well as a little bending of the screen. This I can see will be an issue in the future. We have another call into Kolbe and are looking forward to meeting the representative.

So would I recommend the Kolbe Forgent? No!! They were not inexpensive windows. Run

evagrady, We're very concerned about your experience with Forgent Series windows, and would like the opportunity to discuss the issues directly with you. Could you please contact our Product & Marketing Specialist, Nick Pesl? nick.pesl@kolbewindows.com

Yes, toddinmn, I did. He provided some good information about why Kolbe believes their windows are superior to others, but basically confirmed that in the dark colors their windows are more expensive. Given that it's a new product so there isn't a lot of customer information about how they perform (and some of what I am hearing is negative), we're just not willing to take the risk, especially given that the price will be higher than that of the well-regarded, known-quantity Marvin windows. Had there been cost savings it might have been worth trying given Kolbe's excellent reputation.

In response to an earlier person, the Marvin fiberglass windows corners are glued together with a corner key and use a two component adhesive, not welded together like the Forgent series. The Forgent fiberglass series most likely uses a thermoplastic resin from Arkema called Elium. It seems like a nice window, but when you have that many chambers, your sitelines become bulky just like the Andersen 100 series with their Fibrex wood plastic composite material. I still prefer a traditional polyester based pultrusion. It is stronger, you get cleaner corners without weld marks and better site lines.

Just completing construction on a new home where we've used Kolbe Forgent throughout. We selected the bronze exterior and white interior, and now find out Kolbe doesn't make matching bronze door hardware. Until now we were told the handles provided were "temporary" until the correct ones could be sourced. We now know this is as correct as it's going to get.

Called the factory to try and determine what they were expecting people to do about this and was told "satin nickel goes pretty good with bronze". The other choices are white, clay, or matte black. Any of these choices will certainly beg the question, "what the hell were you thinking"? As for the interior, the obvious choice of white is only produced in plastic, and in my opinion is very cheap looking and feeling.

Unless you are prepared to pay to have your door hardware custom powder coated to match, which I am now doing, don't go with bronze frames.

David, other than the color issues you had with the hardware, are you satisfied with the windows? Did you install any casement windows? If so, what were the largest sizes?

We are just starting construction on our home near McCall, ID at 5000' and are sifting through all the reasonable window options in the Boise, ID area. The majority of our 27 window package will be 3' x 5'6" casements with a few casements that are 3' x 6' so strength is a major concern. Milgard's Ultra fiberglass line won't make a casement larger than 3' x 5' (2'6" x 6' is possible) presumably due to screw retention at the hinges which is steering me from a true fiberglass product like the Ultra or Marvin Integrity. On the showroom floor the Forgent casement looks and operates like a very nice window. The contemporary exterior profile of the Forgent is the look we are trying to achieve, without the price or maintenance of aluminum clad wood. We are a little hesitant with the 10 year warranty (20 year glass) but looking at the window in person it certainly appears to be a product that will live well passed its warranty without issue. Originally, we spec'd black windows in and out but have pretty much decided that we don't want to deal with the inevitable fading that will occur on our 14 Due South facing windows in the next 10 years. I haven't found any testing data on the acrylic film that Forgent uses for their exterior color application to know how long or where it has been tested. For what it's worth, during a phone conversation with the regional sales rep, he said that the acrylic film should hold up as well as their AAMA 2605 rated painted aluminum clad products which come with a 30 year warranty, nothing in writing of course. It would be a shame if the black acrylic finish heats up enough to distort the Glastra underneath after a couple hot summers of direct exposure. In the fine print of the warranty that would not be a covered defect. So, we are starting to lean back towards a classic white in and out look instead of chasing the trend.

If you or anyone else has any input I'm all ears.

Short list of windows still on the list:

Kolbe Forgent: All Glastra White/IN & Black/OUT

Kolbe Forgent: All Glastra White/IN & OUT

Kolbe Forgent: Pine/IN & White Glastra/OUT

Milgard Trinsic: White (New product, worry about strength in large casements with their slim profile)

Milgard Tuscany: White (Don't like the classic beveled edges on the exterior)

Amsco Artisan: White (Very similar to Tuscany)

Ply-Gem Canada: Design Architect Aluminum Clad vinyl interior and exterior. (Huge drawback, warranty does not cover the product if installed in US. It does have a lifetime warranty in Canada though.)

Coeur D'Alene: White vinyl 3000 casement

Jeld-Wen: White vinyl 4500 Casement

Ruled Out:

Andersen 100: Brittleness of fibrex in cold climates, more of a handling and install issue from what we here, but for the price, might as well get the Kolbe which looks nicer in my opinion. Also has a 10 year warranty.

Pella Impervia: Terrible fit and finish in nearly every model home we walked up to.

Marvin Integrity: Strength of fiberglass in the larger casements has us worried about longterm durability with a heavy sash that will potentially sag.

Hi Tommy. Our Forgent windows look great. We had some installation issues but other than that we’re happy with them. The largest casement window we have is a 6x6 square. That didn’t seem to cause any concern from anyone.

What have people ran into for lead times on the Forgent Series? I just had a window order for my personal home that was three deliveries over 7-9 weeks to get all the windows. Is that typical from what others have found? Seems like quite a longer procurement than other companies even for custom sized windows.. Unfortunate that they can't provide lead times until orders are submitted; I likely would have gone another direction due to this. I'm interested if they aren't running the line continuously and just waiting for orders to fill before they start production so it is extending the lead times - another item that may lead to why there isn't much information or reviews on the window. I've always had good lucky with Kolbe in the past - but this has been a less than ideal lead time...

I recently had a full-house order of Andersen A series delivered. It was delivered 8 weeks after the order submitted in the height of construction (and thus manufacturing) season in one delivery.

Last fall, we ordered a custom A-series slider in early fall and it was delivered in 4 weeks.

I doubt they stop and restart the line, that would be highly inefficient. It most likely is that the manufacturer waits to fill a full shipping container before sending the order out. Thus, an order can, once completed, wait for a while before actually leaving the factory.

Dealers choose to either order out of warehouse (distributor delivers to dealer - higher cost due to additional paperwork and delivery costs) or manufacturer direct (if this is offered). The reason I mention if it is offered is that it usually is only offered to larger/higher volume dealers. Sometimes even the bigger dealers have trouble "filling a truckload" which is a minimum amount allowed for a manufacturer's truck to bring the truck into a dealers dock. This is the primary reason for what may seem like a delay when in most cases it is "seems" like that manufacturer is pretty reliable on lead times. Dealers love to blame the manufacturers which in reality they should have simply either under promised and over delivered or leveled with their customer as to the delay.

As you know, Todd, in this brave new world there seems to be a shortage of competent workers in every industry but construction is a big one (includes our drivers). Hopefully AI and driverless vehicles including delivery trucks are not far away. A lot of logistics (who is going unload etc.) still have to be worked out but I think it is coming.

I have seen it in the window factories. Lines that used to be manned are now fully automated. Did workers lose their jobs? Not if you were any good. They moved up to jobs that require more "thinking". The fear that robots are going to replace us is not going to happen.

I do have to chuckle in some cases however. Recently at a box store in their nursery area (not the line of checkout stations), there was a self checkout set up manned by an employee. Isn't that an oxymoron? I think it was more the case of helping those of us not comfortable with self checkout than preserving a job.

I use those self checkouts , usually they have 1 person per 4 registers. They are there for the idiots and when problems arise. I would love to see a driverless semi get into some of the difficult spots and loading docks.